Firstly, RIGHT NOW!, sign the UN Climate Petition, which will be handed to delegates at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December, and secondly go and watch the movie 'The Age of Stupid', if you haven't done so already!
Having seen the film at Croydon's Eco Veggie Fayre, I'm now on a mission to get EVERYONE to see it! It just makes so much sense! If you haven't seen it and can't find it 'locally' (low 'movie miles' please!), email me richardm@greenmoleforum.org with the subject line 'The Age of Stupid'... once I've got enough interest I'll try to arrange a screening in Leatherhead or Dorking.
October 21, 2009 15:51 by
dereksGreen Mole Forum has decided to form a group to look at the possibilities for installing anaerobic digestion (AD) plants in Mole Valley.
AD is a well established process for handing sewage, farm wastes, food wastes or combinations of these feedstocks to produce biogas and a solid residue that is a valuable soil fertiliser. AD keeps organic waste out of landfill, and cuts greenhouse gas emissions. AD plants vary from the very large (one AD plant handles all Stockholm’s sewage and food wastes for example) to plants the size of a large table. There are still not many AD plants in the UK, despite government support for them. The introduction of feed-in tariffs will give a big boost to all renewable energy technologies in the UK including AD.
A small AD plant is already being seriously considered in Headley to run on a mixture of horse manure and sewage. Local famers recognise the benefits of having an AD plant on farm land. Our new group intends to build on this existing local support, gather information, seek advice from experts, and come up with the most promising AD projects. If you would like to be part of this group or find out more, please send us an email using the ‘Contact us’ button on the website, or give me a ring on 01372-378914.
Derek Smith
One easy way to make your lifestyle more planet-friendly is to reduce your electricity consumption. The Green Mole Forum can help make this simple – just borrow a monitor pack and you can find out how to cut your electricity bill, with very little effort on your part. The monitors are also available through local libraries but, as they have long waiting lists, we're offering this alternative, along with some technical help, if you need it.
Each pack contains a pair of ingenious monitors – one that allows you to see how much electricity your whole house is using (and what this is costing) and another to see how much energy an individual appliance consumes at any given moment (useful to check out standby current) or over a period of time.
The monitors encourage getting into the habit of switching things off, especially last thing at night or when going out, the challenge being to get consumption to as near zero as possible. They also show which appliances are greedy guzzlers of electricity (freezers, tumble driers, irons, kettles, electric heaters) and which are relatively innocent (like a portable radio). And interesting things like, how much you save by boiling just enough water for a cup of tea, instead of a kettle full!
For a £20 refundable deposit you can borrow them for a fortnight. Call Anne Brewer (Bookham) on 01372 456421 or Derek Smith (Leatherhead) on 01372 378914 for more details or contact us to ask to be added to the waiting list.
This year's British Science Festival is focused around Guildford.
There are events from the 5th to 10th September including a large number of interest to visitors to this blog. For the full list click here.
Here are some excerpts:
If you're doing some refurbishment on a property there are a variety of
government grants available, from loft insulation to renewable energy, to households who qualify. There are also a variety of FREE products on offer, such as low energy lightbulbs.
Further to my piece on the Eaga ShowerSmart, a FREE water saving device for showers, you can now order one direct from the ShowerSmart website, rather than via TESCO Greener Living.
On the 15th July 2009 the Government published its energy white paper... the previous day TV presenter Kevin McCloud, spokesperson for the Grand Designs Great British Refurb Campaign, had built his own model home, outside the Houses of Parliament, to show MPs what can be done to insulate existing properties. It's estimated that by retrofitting our current housing stock, over 26 million homes (accounting for around 27% of the country's man-made CO2), nine
million tonnes of CO2 could be cut, equivalent to the
average output of over 1.5 million homes a year.
On the 16th the campaign handed in an 8,000 signature petition to 10 Downing Street, calling on the Government to help householders to play
their part. Energy efficiency is the best way to minimise the
costs of a low carbon future and it needs to act now if it wants us to reduce our carbon output by 34% by 2020 and 80% by 2050. Given that the majority of these homes will still be standing, it's a hopelessly unrealistic target, unless we can improve their eco-credentials.
For more information on the campaign and how you can help check out their website.
If you have a non-electric mixer shower or bath/shower mixer tap, you might well be able to fit an eaga ShowerSmart.
This small device (approximately 5cm high by 2cm diameter) regulates the flow of a shower to no more than 7.8 litres per minute, this can save both water and the associated energy of heating it. It only requires simple installation (no plumber required) is WRAS (Water Regulations Advisory Service) certified and has a 15 year manufacturer's guarantee.
To date more than 300,000 have been sent to homes in Great Britain, which equates to a massive 300,000 tonnes of CO2, and the good news is that you may be able to get one FREE!
Why not combine it with a ShowerBoB from Sutton & East Surrey Water or a red Eco Showerdrop from npower, both free subject to availability.
The globalised food system produces upto one-third of total man-made greenhouse gases, with meat and dairy accounting for nearly a fifth
1 (not to mention deforestation, habitat loss, displacement of communities, water use and pollution, animal suffering, heart disease, obesity, etc., etc.!) - that's more than ALL the emissions from transportation.
Livestock production is set to double by 2050, by which time it's estimated we'll need to spend around $40 trillion globally in tackling climate change – this figure could be halved, and the other issues reduced, by following a low meat diet (defined as 70g of beef and 325g of chicken and eggs per week) as recommended by Harvard Medical School.2
If you're a meat eater, why not try going meat-free for one day a week, not only will it help the planet but it might just do your health some good and save you money! Try looking at Meat Free Mondays; whilst having a vested interest as it's connected with Linda McCartney foods, it's a good place to start for recipes and links to further information...
1Steinfeld, H., et al., Livestock’s long shadow: Environmental issues and options. 2006, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations: Rome, Italy.
2Stefehst E et al, Climate benefits of changing diet, Climatic Change, Feb 4 2009; DOI 10.1007/s10584-008-9534-6.
How much could you save?
This year, National liftshare Day (NLSD) takes place on Tuesday 9 June. The popular event aims to raise the profile of car-sharing and encourage and enable more people give it a try.
And in view of the economic climate, the focus this year is on the many hundreds of pounds that regular car-sharers can save every year. How much could you save?
Read on for ideas and inspiration!